THE CURRENCY crunch following the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has given a jolt to shopkeepers at Elante Mall in the Industrial Area. “From the most sought-after market, it has become an ordinary place with minimal people visiting it for the past one week,” said Harpreet Singh, a manager at a store of branded clothes.

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“Earlier, the weekend used to be a big draw but last weekend proved to be a damp squib.” Only a few people come for shopping now. Caffe Coffee Day manager Sonu said that there was a decline of Rs 8,000 per day in the sale of coffee at his outlet.

Earlier, over the weekend, the sale used to be in the range of Rs 50,000 but it came down substantially during the past two weekends. There is a big fall in the daily sale, he added. “The number of customers this week at food joints can be counted on fingertips,” said Deepanshu, manager of the eating joint specialising in continental food. He added that the sale at his outlet was almost negligible over the weekend. Himanshu, a security guard, said that earlier all the three floors of the parking lot used to get filled but for the past some days even one of these had not been fully occupied. A security guard said that earlier he and his colleagues used to be given salary by cheque but this time it would be paid in cash.

Shopkeepers said that the transactions through credit cards were taking place but currency notes of small value were not available and due to this reason, problems were being faced. Unavailability of change was creating problems. “Only Rs 2000 currency notes are being given by most of the banks as fresh notes of Rs 500 are yet to reach in the banks. It is hard to return the balance if one buys goods worth Rs 300 or 400 and makes the payment by offering a note of Rs 2,000,” said Raj Kumar, who works at a cloth store.